Two words – “behavioral targeting” – describe a technique that seems far too foreign to the world of online marketing and website optimization. In fact, it’s something that most web developers are not even aware of.

However, the possibility is quite high that the sites that you frequent and find pretty impressive already use this technique. And chances are the popular sites of top grossing businesses owe it to this magnificent technique.

So what is behavioral targeting anyway?

Behavioral Targeting – Entering the Basics

Behavioral targeting are two important words that you need to be familiar with as you develop your website. In the world of online business and site competition, behavioral targeting is a very effective technique used to increase campaign prowess and reception. It is a technique often used by advertising companies to capture and hold the interest of their target market.

The Magic of Behavioral Targeting – How It Works

Behavioral Targeting requires a good study of the target market and the interests to which they directly cater.

Two kinds of behavioral targeting coincide with two types of website content advertising. First is onsite behavioral targeting, and second is network behavioral marketing.

Onsite behavioral targeting is what you would most often see in sites that publish news and other similar updates. It taps directly into the browsing patterns and behavior of the user and analyzes his or her interests from this data.

From this set of characteristics and analyzed patterns, the site conveys a pre-programmed offering of content in order to satisfy the interests and tastes of the site visitors – encouraging them to dig deeper into the site and stay longer.

Then we have network behavioral marketing. This type of marketing is more suited for advertising companies, since it taps directly into networking sites where potential customers are. This type of marketing also observes the browsing history and behavior of the site visitors, thereby enabling the advertiser to directly show the visitor the type of product promotions that s/he is most likely interested in seeing and actually buying.

Increasing Conversion Rates with Behavioral Targeting

When you visit a site, in reality, these two types of targeting are coupled so as to bring you the content and advertisements that you’re most likely interested in.

On one hand, the steady flow of related content is brought by the programmed data, via the virtue of onsite behavioral targeting. On the other hand, the ads generated in the site itself as you browse is brought by network behavioral targeting.

A visitor is bound to be more receptive to, stay longer on, and delve deeper into the site because of the relevant, targeted content that s/he receives. The ads are specifically targeted to cater to his interests as well, which makes the site all the more captivating.

How Does Behavioral Targeting Increase Sales?

Illustrating how behavioral targeting increases sales is relatively easy. If you’ve ever browsed online marketing sites such as eBay or Amazon, you know that as you “click around” those products you find interesting, you will be prompted to check out a list of recommended items based on your apparent tastes. These lists have been created with the interests of the visitor in mind and surely, it has worked wonders for generating secondary on-site sales.

How Does Behavioral Targeting Increase Coverage?

By providing the most targeted, relevant content to site visitors, online marketers are likely to inspire them to share their positive experience with other potential prospects. And by very simple math, more recommendations will mean more visitors, which in turn will mean more reach for your site.

Ruben Corbo is a freelance copywriter who specializes in tech, online marketing, and smartphone related topics. He’s recently been diving into Behavioral Targeting & Personalization and A/B Testing. When Ruben is not writing, he is writing and producing music for short films and other visual arts. You can find Ruben on Twitter via @WriteOnTheDot.